"What We Want Is the Same Thing You Want": Teacher Union Organizing for the "Common Good" During COVID-19

• In Event: Teaching and Organizing During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

This presentation examines the ‘common good’ organizing efforts of U.S. teachers unions during the Covid-19 pandemic. Many districts have pushed for school reopening while often appearing to pay insufficient attention to health and safety needs of workers, students, families and communities. Meanwhile, many U.S. teachers unions have assertively organized for a “safe return to school.” Embracing social justice unionism as organizing philosophy, such unions have partnered with local communities to advocate for common good issues benefiting both their members and the public. This presentation teases apart what common good issues teachers unions take up in their organizing efforts, why they take up such issues, and considers the stakes of this frame for union organizing within and beyond the current moment.

Author

• Rhiannon M. Maton, SUNY - College at Cortland